Hoërskool Noordeland in Polokwane will be the
venue for the Limpopo under-12 Danone Nations Cup provincial final which is
scheduled to take place on Saturday 2nd June.
The school teams that will be in action
include the 2016 national champions, Benny’s Sports Development Academy, who
will be representing the Vhembe region, along with Letjatji Primary School
(Capricorn region); Miragoma Primary School (Mopani region); and Kgagudi
Primary School (Sekhukhune). The winners of the Waterberg region will only be
determined when the regional finals are played on 26th May.
Benny’s Sports Academy will go into the
tournament as favourites, but Letjatji Primary from Ga-Madisha Leola Zebediela
are ready to challenge them for the title.
It has taken 10 years for Letjatji to make it
to the provincial finals but new coach, Frans Lechaba, said that he has an
excellent group of players this year that can produce magic on the field of
play and could well cause an upset on Saturday.
He has no coaching qualifications but played
professional football for ICL Birds FC in the former Bophuthatswana from 1988
to 1990, which has proved helpful in youth coaching.
Lechaba joined Letjatji in 2016. He started preparing the current team back in
2017 by arranging a host of practice matches with the local clubs to get them accustomed
to competitive football.
The Capricorn regional final took place earlier
this month at Kgwadu Primary School with eight schools competing. Letjatji were
grouped with Rev MP Malatji Primary, Sephala Primary and Dithabaneng Primary.
Lechaba admitted the day started well with an
easy 1 – 0 win against Rev Malatji. “We dominated the game and capitalized on
our strengths getting the ball in the net early in the game.”
Their second game against Sephala Primary
School was a little tougher. “They were
a good team. We made quite a few
mistakes, but football is about getting the ball in the net, which our boys
managed to achieve, and we won 1 – 0.”
The third match against Dithabaneng Primary
School was challenging. “We just could
not penetrate the wall put up by their excellent defense and eventually we lost
1 – 0,” said Lechaba. “However, we managed to top our log which put us into the
final match against Toronto Primary School.
It was another tough match which ended goalless, but we managed to win 3
– 2 in the penalty shootout which means we are now through to the provincials.”
“Benny’s
Sports Development Academy will be our biggest competition at the provincial
finals,” Lechaba says “They were the first Limpopo team to represent South
Africa at the world finals and they always have a good team, but we are ready
and excited to play against them. They are an academy and they have an
excellent reputation, so I know we can also learn from them.”
Letjatji is in a rural area and Lechaba
believes that playing in the Danone Nations Cup is extremely important for the
kids. “I want to use the tournament as a means to teach kids to set goals and
work in teams which therefore teaches them to trust each other,” he says. “With
Danone as the sponsor we are also using this opportunity to teach all the youth
in the school the importance of developing proper eating habits. I’m looking forward to the finals and seeing
what talent is available in Limpopo.”
Gates open on
Saturday at 9am, entrance is free and games beginning at 10am. The draw to determine the fixtures will precede
the first game and sponsors, Danone, will be giving away healthy yoghurt products
including Yogi Sip, DanUp and NutriDay.
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